February: My 28-Day Meal Plan (2024)

Another month, another meal plan! Now that “No Spend January” is over, I’m feeling a little more focused and inspired. A big goal was to clear out the freezer, but that left little room for meals I WANTED to eat. It was more like stuff we HAD to eat. I am looking forward to February’s 28 29 Day Meal Plan.

I got this cookbook, The Weekday Lunches & Breakfasts Cookbook, a few years ago and haven’t used it in a while. Around here, if things don’t get used, they get decluttered, so I’m making an effort to use it. I have three cookbooks by this author and I enjoy all of them.

Towards the end of January, I sat down with this cookbook and made my meal plan for the month of February. I’m sharing it below. Use it meal for meal, pick and choose your favorites, or just use it as inspiration for creating your own February meal plan!

Meal Plan Basics

As always, I meal plan in 4 steps.

THIS MONTHLY MEAL PLAN POST HAS IN-DEPTH DIRECTIONS.

THIS PRINTABLE EBOOK AND PLANNER HAS EVERYTHING.

Step 1: Gather materials

Materials: paper, calendar, list of favorite recipes (literally just a list of our favorite meals written in the back of my planner), and a cookbook (optional).

You could make this list on your phone, in your planner, or you can buy my ebook and use the pages provided in there. Don’t get hung up on the details.

Step 2: List the dates of the month

I list the dates from one to 28/29/30/31 – whatever. Since it’s Leap Year, I’m listing 29 days this month!

Step 3: Add in some No-Brainers

For us, that’s pizza on Fridays (paired with a movie for some low-key family bonding) and fajitas on Mondays. We used to have tacos every Tuesday, but we all got sick of tacos so we’re switching to another Mexican fave.

Other ideas of “no brainers” you could implement in your meal plan are: Soup Saturday, Spaghetti Sunday, Meatball Monday… it doesn’t need to be alliterate, but obviously you get bonus points if it is. Pick a meal or two your family loves and schedule it in once a week.

Step 4: Fill in the Rest

Using my favorite recipes list and cookbook, I fill in the rest of the days. I glance at our calendar and try to schedule simple meals on busy days (Mondays are currently INSANE for us) and longer prep meals on slower days (Wednesdays and Thursdays right now for us).

This printable ebook and meal planner is a great resource to refer to each month.

Ideas to Keep In Mind:

Vary Proteins: I try to vary our proteins up week by week and I rarely repeat meals within the month, aside from Mondays and Fridays. I also sprinkle a few salads in there.

Be Intentional: I also try to create goals for myself, such as eating more vegetables or trying 2-3 new recipes a month.

Double It Up: Making double batches of meals or cook a lot of meat at once. Having an extra meal ready to go in the freezer makes cooking on a busy night pain free!

Schedule Breaks: Scheduling in “dining out” days is also helpful. It gives me a break, but in a controlled way instead of an impulsive swing through the drive-thru.

My 28 29 Day Monthly Meal Plan for February

Here’s my February Meal Plan. Use it meal for meal, pick and choose meals, or just keep it in the back of your mind as you create your own meal plan.

1. Cheater Japchae (from the book above, find a similar recipe here)
2. Pizza
3. Pulled Pork (double batch)
4. Whole Chicken – recipe here
5. Chicken Fajitas (using leftover chicken – homemade fajita spice mix here)
6. Avocado Chicken Sandwiches
7. Turkey Taco Salad (homemade taco seasoning recipe here)
8. Hot Dogs and Mac and Cheese
9. Pizza (again, with a movie)
10. Cheesesteaks
11. Chicken Noodle Soup
12. Fajitas
13. Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
14. Chicken Parm
15. Sweet Potato Turkey Burgers on rice
16. Pizza
17. Korean Lettuce Wraps (from this cookbook)
18. Spaghetti & Meatballs (double batch)
19. Pork Chops
20. Meatball Subs (using leftovers)
21. Dill Pickle Chicken Salad (from The Weekday Lunches & Breakfasts Cookbook)
22. White Chicken Chili
23. Pizza
24. Taco Rice (from The Weekday Lunches & Breakfasts Cookbook)
25. Whole Chicken
26. Fajitas (using leftover chicken)
27. Pulled Pork (from freezer, cooked earlier in the month)
28. Stir Fry
29. Egg Roll Bowl (from Lillie Eats and Tells)

Meal Plan Note

• On nights where I just have a meat listed (such as whole chicken or pork chops), I’ll make quick sides like mashed potatoes, rice quinoa, and a vegetable.
• I cook a whole chicken about once a month in the crock pot. I then use the leftover cooked/shredded chicken in recipes for the next few nights. I also use the bones to make broth in the summer, which I use in chicken soup. This makes dinner prep quick and simple.
• I transfer this list, week by week, into my planner. If meat has to be defrosted, I add that onto my “to do list” at the same time.
• I refer to this list when creating my grocery list and scan the pantry to make sure I don’t already have the ingredient in stock.

Monthly Meal Plan

Sticking to A Meal Plan

February Monthly Meal Plan

Meal planning a month at a time may seem overwhelming, but it’s one day of thinking about food and weeks of not thinking, which is my favorite part. This month was even simpler than usual since it was short. There are so many ways of meal planning, from planning every 6 weeks, planning every week, or having a dinner schedule where you cook the same meals every night. How do you meal plan?